Comments on: Tablets for Christmas http://blog.thestateofme.com/2012/11/09/tablets-for-christmas/
IT mixology and other thoughts about tech, life the universe and everythingFri, 09 Nov 2012 12:02:34 +0000
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By: Richard Hopkins http://blog.thestateofme.com/2012/11/09/tablets-for-christmas/#comment-4917
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 12:02:34 +0000http://blog.thestateofme.com/?p=1401#comment-4917If you’re still keeping tabs on the in-laws, you can chalk up another tablet arriving this Christmas, as I took a trip into the city center on Tuesday night to pick up a 4th gen iPad.

I’d spent a week or so giving longing sideways looks at a Nexus 10, but in the end it came down to several factors:

1. What I need right now – I’m working on a project that in the first instance is deploying on iOS devices and didn’t have a tablet to test on. This was really the driving factor, and would probably have been enough even without the comments below.

2. Content/media licensing deals – Google and amazon haven’t really set out their stalls in Japan yet. Yes, we’ve had Android for a while, but if you want to do something as simple as purchasing an mp3 music track, you can forget it unless you’re going through iTunes. This is especially pertinent at the moment given the draconian new law (up 2 years behind bars) that was introduced here last month to crack down on p2p piracy. Suddenly, paying for music has become a much more attractive option again, at the very least until it becomes clear how strictly it’s going to be enforced. I would predict that even with a concerted effort, we’re looking at a year before either of the two new kids on the block really get themselves in shape to offer the same selection of music, movies, apps, books and other content that Apple already has in place.

3. Heavy prior investment in the Apple ecosystem – It pains me to think of myself as Tim Cook’s bitch, but I live in a household where we have a Mac Pro, 2 Apple TVs, 2 iPhones and my main laptop is for daily use is a MacBook Pro. This also means I have a great deal of universal apps that don’t need repurchasing. It just doesn’t make sense at the moment to surrender all the interoperability that adding another iOS device will provide, simply to buy into another vendors product that “could be good in about a year from now” (see 2).

4. The spouse factor – My wife, who previously expressed no interest in tablets (having previous had no interest in smartphones before becoming addicted to her iPhone 4S) has already spent an entire evening sitting playing with it. She’s not particularly tech savvy, but with her existing iOS familiarity it fits the ‘no further instruction required’ criteria nicely.

I agree with your general view that Apple are slowly losing their dominance, but until things change here in Japan, they’re still the rational choice if your budget is flexible enough. By the time I come to upgrade in the future though, things might be different.

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By: Chris Swan http://blog.thestateofme.com/2012/11/09/tablets-for-christmas/#comment-4916
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:31:12 +0000http://blog.thestateofme.com/?p=1401#comment-4916I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read this (yet), though I may have to be more careful in the not too distant future. The same goes for my wife and mother in law.
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By: Jon Tseng http://blog.thestateofme.com/2012/11/09/tablets-for-christmas/#comment-4915
Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:27:52 +0000http://blog.thestateofme.com/?p=1401#comment-4915Hullo mate. Good to meet you yesterday!

A few thoughts:
1) I also have an (’10) iPod Touch (aka iPad Nano) for much the same reason – to play games, keep my oar in with the iOS ecosystem and to do my bit to dilute AAPL’s gross margins! :-p
2) Great to see GOOG finally pushing android tablets to their their price advantage for a spin with the N7 and N10. I do wonder if its damned if the do/don’t though – if they don’t sell they don’t sell. If they do sell they either cannibalise the other android guys or force them to lower prices and hit margin. Volume of course may compensate but on paper that does not a happy ecosystem make! (wonder how much Asus makes on an N7 sold at retail once Dixons has their cut?)
3) I really think AAPL’s hardware-driven model massively handicaps them in the long term. The only way they can make serious money is device sales (given App Store revs are small and they have no search/ad monitisation engine). This locks them into the premium hardware model and gives them little flexibility vs. eco-system-mongers like Kindle Fire.
4) Does your daughter read your blog? I hope not!